Antibiotics as effective as surgery for appendicitis

As mentioned above surgery known as appendectomy means surgical removal of appendix, so there is no chance of its return, but sometimes, it can lead to complications.

Surgery cures appendicitis, but it may not be necessary. After a year it was found out that those children who underwent the antibiotic treatment were healthy and did not require any further treatment compared to the ones who underwent surgery.

In order to reach the findings, the researchers screened nearly 629 patients ranging from age seven to 17. Effectiveness of Patient Choice in Nonoperative vs Surgical Management of Pediatric Uncomplicated Acute Appendicitis. Each patient still needs to be evaluated to determine if antibiotics are an option. In addition, the kids missed fewer days of school and, not surprisingly, it cost the parents a lot less money too.

Still, Minneci and Deans said they do not stress that the one treatment is better than the other. A number of 37 children received antibiotics treatment, while the other 65 received surgery. “However, early in our careers, we noticed that patients with appendicitis who were placed on antibiotics overnight until their surgery the following morning felt better the next day”.

One expert stressed, however, that appendicitis presents in many different ways – not all of which are amenable to an antibiotic-only approach. Their intention is to follow all the children in this study as long as possible to see if those treated with non-operative management continue to thrive. Of these, 95 % confirmed enchancment inside 24 hours. Of all the pediatric ER visits, some 11% are on account of appendicitis, according to the report published in JAMA Surgery by Minneci and colleagues. Some parents are very concerned about appendicitis coming back. This rare cancer, whose cause remains unknown, is likely found in less than 2 percent of all appendectomy specimens analyzed under a microscope, Dr. Ehlers said. According to a new study in the United States, it… They suggest this may be of more value than the patient’s bias. Normally, the procedure, while it’s invasive, has mostly been deemed safe. Most of the European studies included in the review used open appendectomy, which usually requires a longer hospital stay and recovery and generally has more complications compared with laparoscopic appendectomy. Past studies have shown that antibiotics are an effective alternative treatment. Nevertheless, surgery has been turned to as the normal standard in confirmed cases of appendicitis in children – a procedure whereby the appendix is removed in order to eliminate the illness.

It is important to note that patients should still consult a surgeon regardless of what treatment they choose.

The researchers said that in around 75% of the cases in which child having appendicitis treated with antibiotics rather than surgery, a year later, the children recover and never required to undergo surgery to remove their appendix. “There is a relatively good body of literature in adults and also in children that shows patients and parents involved in the decision process do better”, said Dr. Peter Minneci, of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, as reported by Yahoo News.